Oppns ganging up against PM; for nat'l unity govt

THT ONLINE

KATHMANDU: Furious over Baburam Bhattarai administration’s unilateral decision to hold fresh CA polls, the Nepali Congress (NC), the CPN-UML along with other fringe parties will sit together today also to muster up a strategy seeking the resignation of the premier.

In a meeting which to take place at Nepali Congress party headquarters in Sanepa after 2 pm, NC, CPN-UML, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Rastriya Janashakti Party, Rastriya Janamorcha, CPN (Marxist Leninist), Chure Bhawar Rastriya Ekta Party Nepal and Nava Nepal Nirman Party will reiterate that CA polls cannot be held until Prime Minister Bhattarai resigns and a national unity government is formed.

For them, the government’s decision to hold fresh polls was unconstitutional and that the legitimacy of the PM has ended with the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.

The premier called new elections seeing no other option but to go back to the people and elect a new assembly to write the constitution but legal experts said he lacked the power to do so. According to legal experts, any plans for new polling should be made in consultation with the country's other political parties.

“PM’s announcement to hold fresh elections is politically, legally and morally incorrect,” said constitutional and legal expert Bhimarjun Acharya.

"The country has plunged into a serious crisis," said Ram Sharan Mahat, a senior leader of the country's second-largest party, the Nepali Congress, told to AP who said that six months would not be enough time to prepare for new polling.

"This government has no legitimate grounds to continue," he said.

For all NC leaders it was a ‘political coup’.

UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal said, “We will jointly challenge Maoists’ anti-people and anti-constitutional move.”

The Broader Madhesi Front also wants PM Bhattarai to step down and pave way for a unity government.

Even the hardliner faction inside the Maoist came up with a conclusion on Monday that party chairman was responsible for the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly and it would join hands with NC and UML to topple the Bhattarai-led government.

All political parties who have ridiculed Bhattarai’s move will join today’s meeting, said NC leader Arjun Narsingh KC.